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Delta Plan Chapter 7, Reduce Risk to People, Property, and State Interests In

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Delta Plan Chapter 7, Reduce Risk to People, Property, and State Interests In Agenda Item 3 1 ABOUT THIS CHAPTER 2 This chapter provides an overview of flood risk in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta 3 (Delta), current flood management efforts, and the most pertinent agencies and 4 regulations. It details the Delta Stewardship Council’s (Council) core strategies to reduce 5 risk to people, property, and State interests in the Delta. These core strategies form the 6 basis of the four policies and fifteen recommendations found at the end of the chapter: 7 • Continue to prepare for Delta flood emergencies 8 • Modernize levee information management 9 • Prioritize investment in Delta flood management 10 • Update funding strategies 11 • Manage rural floodplains to avoid increased flood risk 12 • Protect and expand floodways, floodplains, and bypasses 13 • Renew assurances of federal assistance for post-disaster levee reconstruction 14 • Limit State liability 15 Reducing flood risks in the Delta also relies on locating urban development in the cities 16 where levees are stronger (as proposed in Chapter 5) and retaining rural lands for 17 agriculture, so that development in the most flood-prone areas is minimized. 18 RELEVANT LEGISLATION 19 Water Code sections 85305, 85306, 85307, and 85309 require the Delta Plan to include or 20 otherwise consider specific components to attempt to reduce risk. 21 85305(a) The Delta Plan shall attempt to reduce risks to people, property, and state 22 interests in the Delta by promoting effective emergency preparedness appropriate land 23 uses, and strategic levee investments. 24 (b) The council may incorporate into the Delta Plan the emergency preparedness and 25 response strategies for the Delta developed by the California Emergency Management 26 Agency pursuant to Section 12994.5. 27 85306 The council, in consultation with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, 28 shall recommend in the Delta Plan priorities for state investments in levee operation, 29 maintenance, and improvements in the Delta, including both levees that are a part of 30 the State Plan of Flood Control and non-project levees. 31 85307(a) The Delta Plan may identify actions to be taken outside of the Delta, if 32 those actions are determined to significantly reduce flood risks in the Delta. (b) The 33 Delta Plan may include local plans of flood protection. (c) The council, in consultation 34 with the Department of Transportation, may address in the Delta Plan the effects of 35 climate change and sea level rise on the three state highways that cross the Delta. 36 (d) The council, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and 1 Agenda Item 3 1 Development Commission and the Public Utilities Commission, may incorporate into 2 the Delta Plan additional actions to address the needs of Delta energy development, 3 energy storage, and energy transmission and distribution. 4 85309 The department, in consultation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers 5 and the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, shall consider a proposal to coordinate 6 flood and water supply operations of the State Water Project and the federal Central 7 Valley Project, and submit the proposal to the council for consideration for incorporation 8 into the Delta Plan. In drafting the proposal, the department shall consider all related 9 actions set forth in the Strategic Plan. 10 Reduce Risk to People, Property, and State Interests in the Delta 11 Reducing flood risks to people, property, and State interests is critical to achieving the 12 Delta Reform Act’s coequal goals and protecting the Delta as a place. The Legislature 13 has found that the Delta is “inherently flood-prone,” and that further improvements and 14 continuing maintenance of the levee system will not resolve all flood risks (Public 15 Resources Code section 29704). Living with risk, whether from floods, earthquakes, 16 fires, coastal storms, or other hazards, is often part of life in California. The Delta’s 17 hazards, however, are exceptional because they affect so many State interests, including 18 the reliability of its water supplies, the health of the Delta’s ecosystem, and the qualities 19 that make the Delta an attractive place to live, work, and recreate. 20 To reduce these risks to people, property, and State interests in the Delta, the Delta 21 Reform Act requires that the Delta Plan promote effective emergency response and 22 preparedness, appropriate land use, and strategic investments in levees (Water Code 23 section 85305). The Delta Reform Act also directs the Council, in consultation with the 24 Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB), to recommend priorities for State 25 investments in levee operation, maintenance, and improvements in the Delta, including 26 both levees that are a part of the State Plan of Flood Control and nonproject levees (Water 27 Code section 85306). 28 The Council envisions a future in which risks of flooding in the Delta are reduced, despite 29 an increase in sea levels and altered runoff patterns. The Council sees a future where 30 Delta residents, local governments, and businesses are better prepared to respond when 31 floods threaten. The Council envisions a future where bypasses are expanded; channels 32 are improved; and strong, well-maintained levees protect local communities—but also 33 protect State interests in a more reliable water supply for California and a protected and 34 restored Delta ecosystem. These improvements will include new or expanded floodways 35 and bypasses, maintaining and improving levees, and floodproofing new development. The 36 Council envisions that rural areas and the Delta’s legacy communities will also be protected 37 from flood risks by careful land use planning that discourages urban development in flood- 38 threatened areas. The Council envisions that flood management will draw on a variety of 39 funding tools, including greater payments by those who benefit from the Delta’s levees. 2 Agenda Item 3 1 State funds for desired projects will be focused at State interests in the Delta, but some of 2 that activity will protect local interests as well. Federal, State, and local agencies will 3 respond cooperatively to flood disasters, working together to recover vital infrastructure, 4 mitigate economic damage, restore the ecosystem, and encourage long-term resiliency. 5 Eliminating flood risks will be impossible, but prudent planning, reasonable land 6 development, and improved flood management will significantly reduce risk, and serve the 7 coequal goals of a more reliable water supply, and a protected and restored Delta 8 ecosystem. 9 Delta Hazards Threaten Both Coequal Goals and the Delta as a Place 10 The threats that flooding, earthquakes, and other hazards pose to the Delta imperil 11 California’s water supplies and the health of the Delta ecosystem. The channels that 12 convey water through the Delta to users in the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, or Southern 13 California, and the islands that prevent saltwater intrusion into Delta water supplies depend 14 upon levees for their preservation. Should the levees that protect these channels fail, the 15 impacts on water supplies could be felt statewide. Improving these Delta levees is an 16 investment in water supply reliability. Another way to reduce these risks is for areas that 17 use Delta water to develop plans for possible interruption of these supplies in a 18 catastrophic event, as recommended in Chapter 3. Integrating water supply and flood 19 control efforts is also important to optimize the management of the multipurpose reservoirs 20 that store water for the Central Valley Project (CVP), State Water Project (SWP), and other 21 water users. For example, a potential benefit of wide flood bypasses leading to the Delta 22 may be greater flexibility in these reservoirs’ operations, creating new opportunities to 23 manage water supplies or generate hydroelectric power, while also contributing to 24 ecosystem restoration as described below. 25 The Delta levees also affect the health of the ecosystem. Many birds, such as waterfowl or 26 sandhill cranes, thrive in areas that depend on levees for their management. In some 27 locations, careful removal or breaching of levees may create new habitats that benefit fish, 28 wildlife, and the ecosystem. Fish and wildlife habitats can be improved by thoughtful design 29 of levee margins bordering sloughs and river channels. Setting levees back deliberately, 30 when feasible, can create both more capacity for flood flows and more habitat for fish and 31 wildlife. But unplanned levee failures often create weed infested depths that harbor 32 nonnative species rather than refuges for smelt, salmon, or other preferred species. 33 Changes in the area protected by levees also alter water circulation through the Delta, 34 changing the benefit of flows released to protect its ecosystem. 35 The Delta’s residents, farms, and businesses also depend on its levees. They shape the 36 Delta landscape, protecting its farms and communities from destruction. The levee system 37 is the foundation on which the entire Delta economy is built, the Delta Protection 38 Commission’s (DPC’s) Economic Sustainability Plan reports (DPC 2012). Delta residents 39 built the levee system over generations, and they are keenly interested in its maintenance 3 Agenda Item 3 1 and improvement. (See sidebar, Delta Disaster Recalled, for an example of the 2 consequences of levee failure.) 3 DELTA DISASTER RECALLED (SIDEBAR) 4 On a moonlit Wednesday night in June 1972, the San Joaquin River flowed slowly after 5 one of the driest winters on record. It gnawed at the Andrus Island levee 6 miles south of 6 Isleton between Bruno’s Yacht Harbor and Spindrift Resort, opening a small hole that grew 7 rapidly. By the time sheriff’s deputies arrived on scene shortly after 1 a.m., the river had 8 carved a 100-foot break.
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